Breastfeeding, drugs, herbs, environmental toxins, mother and infant diseases

 Introduction

         Breastfeeding is a bio-cultural subject of humankind, and, of utmost importance for child’s and mother’s health from both industrialized and developing countries. The Spanish Pediatric Association (AEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and other leading scientific organizations around the world recommend exclusive breastfeeding as the best method of infant feeding in the first 6 months of life and, together with complementary foods, until 2 years of age or longer.

          There are many breastfeeding women who at some point during lactation can become concerned about the compatibility of some medical prescriptions, herbal substances, environment contaminants or a disease. Most of these situations don’t represent any deleterious effect on the quality of milk or harm to the child’s welfare. Health caregivers, however, ought to make recommendations based on scientific evidence taking into account any possible untoward effect, making a suggestion for other choices or, as a last worst option, to discourage breastfeeding cautiously.

          Because of a significant dispersion of information on this subject, we have undertaken the building of this website to assist health workers in finding a rapid and reliable resource for consultation. Due to the complexity of contents involved, this page is intended exclusively for expert health professionals. If you are a mother, a father or a grandparent, consult your Pediatrician, midwife, gynecologist or those who are committed to take care of the lactating dyad and the child’s health and welfare.